What they don't get

Do places even have the slightest clue that "a portion of all purchases goes to Christian charities" is not a universally good thing? I was just doing some online clothes shopping. I clicked a link, and the site's main page had a big announcement in their rotating banner saying that very thing. I didn't even bother to look at the clothes. Buh-bye. Frankly, I would prefer that any charity money coming from me would go to actually helping people, rather than handing out Bibles or communion wafers.

Do they think Muslims and Jews want to be supporting their Christian charities? Really?

This is embarrassing

This afternoon I was over at www.stopsylvia.com reading about Sylvia Browne, psychic fraud. My mom used to love Sylvia, and thought she was the end-all-be-all psychic. This was back in the 1990s, after I had realized there were no gods, but before I'd given up completely on the paranormal. In fact, at the time, I was kind of into that John Edward show. He was (is?) better at it than she is, btw. At least he sounds sincere and doesn't come across as an asshole. So maybe I should just say that he's not mean like she is. But anyway.

So I was at that site, and I was reading all the accounts of e-mails, video transcripts, and failed predictions. And I decided that it would take me a lot less time to just go watch them on YouTube. You know what? I got to this one (yes, I also watched parts 1-3) and I couldn't watch any longer. This is just embarrassing to watch. It made me feel like I was watching a con man swindle an elderly person out of her/his life savings.

YouTube - Montel's final show with Sylvia Browne (Part 4)

I left as comment, which is awaiting moderation and in all likelihood will never be posted. But here it is:

That was embarrassing. I'm more psychic than she is. "Oh, yes. He's around you." "Yes, They're together." "Oh, it's terrible when we lose a child." Give me a break.

That pretty much sums up what Sylvia told this grieving mother. Her twelve year old son, Daniel, had been hit by a car. Daniel's mother asked if he was around her, if he was ok, and if he needed to tell her anything. Now seriously, what is Sylvia going to say to that? No, he's not?? Of course she's going to say he's ok, he's with God, blah, blah. Then Daniel's mother asked about her sister. Sylvia told her to be more specific. So she said that her sister had died, and that she had adored Daniel. Again, what else is Sylvia going to say? She agreed that, yes, her sister had loved Daniel, and that they were together. Oh, and we're all going to be together one day. But it takes so long my sweet Lord, right? She totally sounded like that George Harrison song. (No offense to George, who was completely awesome and underrated.) The rest of Sylvia's crap was her talking about how terrible it is to lose a child. Well no shit, Sherlock. And then Montel, who was at least trying to be helpful, gave her some talk-show-host pseudo therapy about how she needs to try and move on so she doesn't get sucked into depression (too late). And Sylvia started telling her how how grief is selfish, because the dead person is in happy lala god land, but we want them with us. FFS. What part of any of that is the least bit psychic?

But at least this woman seemed comforted. If you watch some of the other videos of her on YouTube, they're not so comforting. I really hurt for the woman whose boyfriend died and was never found. Old "psychic" Sylvia tells her, oh, he's in water. It's like that girl missing in Aruba. The guy was FDNY and died in the WTC on 9/11. Then there were the parents whose teenage daughter died. They wanted to know how she died. Sylvia said she was shot. No, the girl dropped dead in her bedroom, but the autopsy didn't find any cause. Or the girl who was abducted from hr front yard. Sylvia said she had been, I kid you not, sold into white slavery in Japan. They found the girl's body eventually. She was already dead when Sylvia gave her prediction, and she had never left Texas. That was a disgusting one. She also told Shawn Hornbeck's parents that he was dead, and gave directions to his body. Well gee, that kid was finally rescued after years, and he is still alive. What if she said that to police in a missing persons case and they stopped looking?

Oh, and apparently if you speak out against Sylvia loudly enough, she'll try to dig up dirt on you. So yeah. Whatever. Try it, honey. Maybe I should really piss her off and milk the publicity so I can afford a car. LOL.

The Point of Prayer?

A recent issue of Reader's Digest has a feature story (book excerpt?) about General Hugh Shelton who fell in his yard, and was initially told he would never walk again or even move his arms. Not far into the story, he gets all feel goody about how he prayed that if God would just give him a chance, something to work with, then he would give his all. And since it appears that he did indeed walk again, the implication is that his god answered his prayers. I'm sure that's what most people who read that story will take away from it. But what I'm taking away is that in that case, it means that his god hated Chris Reeve. Because let's face it. The whole world of movie-watching, Christian praying people prayed for Chris Reeve.

Don't get me wrong. I'm really glad that General Shelton managed to walk again. But I would totally have thrown him under the bus to see Superman get out of the wheelchair. In fact, that would have been a nice miracle for a god who wants people to believe and to worship him. The followers pray, and the insanely famous paraplegic gets up and walks. That would be a pretty conclusive miracle, especially if he'd sent some priest/pastor/minister or whatever as a miracle-conduit.  But no. What happens to Chris Reeve? He fights like hell for ten years, and then just dies. And within months, his non-smoker wife dies of lung cancer, orphaning their son. This is not showing me any evidence of a god who gave a crap that all those people were praying for him and his family.

Now is the time that apologists would get all "oh, well, it wasn't in God's plan." Oh, ok. So even though the whole world was asking, their god won't change his plan. Except for the General, whose initial diagnosis in the emergency room was likely from a doctor who wanted to prepare him for a worst case scenario. The rest of the doctors seem to have been less certain, because no one else ever said that to him, AFAICT. So this guy had a huge challenge, and he might well have spent the rest of his life in that chair. But it wasn't any kind of miracle that he healed and regained mobility. It was an experimental procedure, some great doctors and therapists at Walter Reed, and a whole lot of hard work on his part. Anyway, if this god won't change his plans no matter how many people ask, then what is the point in praying? It must have been his plan for the General to walk again, right? In fact, what was the point of him even trying hard? If it was part of his god's plan that he should walk again, couldn't he have just sat there watching TV and it would have happened anyway? For that matter, what is the point of anything if some god is just up there planning everything? And how the hell is that supposed to mesh with this "free will" thing he's supposed to have going on? Because if I can change the plan, shouldn't the god be able to change it? And if I can't, where's my free will?

Anyway, it seems to me that if the whole world can't pray Chris Reeve out of the chair, or even keep him alive long enough for technology to get him out, then one desperate Dear God letter isn't going to do anything. Furthermore, if the dude that created the universe really gave a crap about either of them, wouldn't he have kept Chris on the horse, and kept Gen. Shelton on the ladder in the tree? Or is that beyond him? I just... the more I think about it, the less sense religion makes.

Late-Term Abortions: Q&A With the Last Remaining Doctor Who Performs Them – TIME Healthland

Late-Term Abortions: Q&A With the Last Remaining Doctor Who Performs Them – TIME Healthland

I thought this was pretty scary, actually. There's one guy left doing these, and three weeks after Dr. Tiller was gunned down, he's getting death threats against his family?? Pro-life, my ass. More like pro-forced-birth. These are the things I think of when I hear that Christianity is non-violent/different from Islam or whatever. Sorry, kids. Your crazies murder people, too. And they're just as proud of it.

Bill Nye -- 2010 Humanist of the Year

Bill Nye’s speech in acceptance of the 2010 Humanist of the Year Award

So I just read this speech. RichardDawkins.net Tweeted the link. Bill Nye's awesome points went up by one. The speech is full of good bits, but among my favorites is one from the Q&A afterward:

It gets me when people ask, why are you guys doing that? Why are you sending a mission to Pluto? What are you going to find? We don’t know—that’s why we’re going!

Nice. When I hear people asking why, I always think "well, because we finally figured out how." I mean, why wouldn't we? It makes me sad when people don't get how important pure science is -- especially space exploration. If we don't get this climate change thing under control, or if we run out of room, or if an asteroid or something is coming for us, we'd better not all be on the same rock. For real. We're getting a near miss in April of 2029 and again in April of 2036 from one particular asteroid, named Apophis. (Stargate fans, of course, are used to the Earth being threatened by Apophis.)

Anyway, yeah. go read Bill's speech. And revel in the knowledge that some scientists are also famous, beloved television personalities.

We Only Take "NO" for an Answer!

The Chief of the Blue Meanies says this to Max, right before he sends Glove after Old Fred. I'm talking, of course, about Yellow Submarine, the 1968 animated Beatles movie. The real Beatles are featured briefly, the movie is interwoven with their music.  Voice actors portray Beatle characters. I have always loved this movie.

But last night, I was watching Keith Olbermann talk about Teabaggers who want to get rid of minimum wage, public education, non-discrimination laws, birthright citizenship, and on, and on, and on. And I was suddenly reminded of that first scene in Yellow Submarine, when the Blue Meanies take over Pepperland. So the Blue Meanie Chief tells Max that "We Meanies only take "no" for an answer." Max then answers "No," to everything else he says. And then they start bombing Pepperland with lightning bolts, turning the people to stone, and draining the color from their world. The Chief sends Glove (a flying blue glove with a sinister laugh) to smash things and chase down Old Fred, who is fleeing to look for help. Glove flies across the psychedelic landscape smashing things. He smashes the word "YES." He smashes the "K" and the "W" in the word "KNOW." laughs, and flies after Fred.

This was the moment I realized that Glove was a Republican. Or, given that we're all speaking British, maybe just generic conservatives. But either way, and intended or not, it's a damned good metaphor for American politics today. And for the first time, I really thought that scene was sad.

ThinkProgress » Univision Accepts $80,000 To Air GOP Group’s Ads That Tell Latinos Not To Vote

ThinkProgress » Univision Accepts $80,000 To Air GOP Group’s Ads That Tell Latinos Not To Vote

You know, really. Just when I think they've hit bottom, there go the Republicans, sinking again. Don't Vote? Seriously? That's their plan? Dear Latinos: Don't Vote. It will empower you. How freaking stupid do they think Latinos are?

Let's follow this train of logic, shall we? The ad complains about Democrats, and then says "don't vote." Ostensibly because Democrats shouldn't be able to count on their vote, since they don't do enough for them. Oh, sure. And if they don't vote, and the Democrats lose because of it, then the Republicans win. And if the Republicans win, that's supposed to be somehow better for Latinos? Really? That sounds a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Republicans want to ship all the Latinos back to Mexico. Even the ones who didn't come from there, AFAICT. (Tangent: I once told a Texan who was bitching about bilingual accommodations that most of the Spanish-speaking people in my part of the country are American citizens from Puerto Rico. That just pissed him off more. The Puerto Rican lady who worked with us did not comment.)

Anyway, yeah. So apparently Latinos are supposed to make some kind of statement and get noticed by allowing Republicans to win. Um, when Republicans notice Latinos, they tell the police to ask them for papers. And then they put up a fence around Mexico.

I haven't even gotten to what a betrayal it is for Univision to run an ad like that in the first place. It's like smacking all their viewers in the face. You wouldn't see the Lifetime Channel running an ad telling women not to vote. So, WTF Univision? Was the $80K really that important to you?

The Media Can Legally Lie

The Media Can Legally Lie

Whoa! That doesn't mean what I think it does, right?

In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.

SAY WHAT?! **insert tire screeching sound here**

Why did I not know this until like five minutes ago? Why aren't we shouting this from the rooftops? FOX News WENT TO COURT to "prove" that they have the right to lie on the air any time they want. This doesn't bother conservatards? I am kind of at a loss here, because I'm apparently incapable of understanding why anyone would continue to insist that this farce of a network is "fair and balanced." I would like to believe that, like me, the non-FOX-employees spouting that nonsense are largely unaware of this court case. And further, I would like to believe that at least some of them would actually care that FOX came right out and said in a court of law that they lie on the air, that they have the right to lie on the air, and that they have the right to fire anyone who threatens to report them for lying on the air. WTF?

But the thing I really can't understand, is how an appeals court could possibly agree with them. FCC policy doesn't have the weight of a law or a rule? What? I am just shaking my head here.

cheap food

Is it terrible of me to consider buying cheap food off a church? I hate the idea of giving money to religion, but cheap food is my favorite. And we have a couple of these: https://www.angelfoodministries.com/ locally.

It's been a long time

Happy 70th Birthday, John Lennon! Wish you were here.

I wasn't born yet when the Kennedys and Dr. King were assassinated. For me it was John Lennon. I was eleven 30 years ago today, when he was having his 40th birthday. Two months later he was gone. I have a lot of memories of that day. But right now what I think about with his death is, how do murder victims' families forgive? I still haven't forgiven the guy who shot Lennon (will not write his name today), and I didn't even know the guy. I was born at the end of the Beatles, and John and I were only alive on this planet together for 11 years. If he had been family...

Anyway, since it's John birthday, and he's not here, we'll have to celebrate for him. Happy Birthday, John. If there actually is an afterlife, I'll see you when I get there. Meanwhile, have a beer with George and tell the scientists to make sure the a/c is working. ;-)

a better place?

What the bloody hell? So this lunatic in Winchester kills his whole family, right? And then he says that his 4-year-old son, Thomas Mortimer V, and 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte, "are in a much better place than they could ever be living with Laura and living with me." Oh, how thoughtful of him to slit their little throats then. Freak.

be offended

Everyone should be offended when the US government supports religion in any way. Everyone. Even if it is supporting your own religion. No one should be happy to see the Ten commandments posted in a government building, for example. Why? Because nothing lasts forever, including your stranglehold on the religious of the majority of Americans.

What if tomorrow, a significant proportion of Christians decided that your god had sent a new prophet. And what if this prophet said that you've all been doing everything wrong, and must convert to Islam at once? Don't tell me it couldn't happen. If gods can send prophets to ignorant, superstitious desert tribes, they should be able to send prophets to modern people, right? Shouldn't they? Or can't the god(s) do that sort of thing anymore? If not, why not?

So say this prophet gets 60 percent of Christians to convert to Islam. Now they're going to go rip down all the Judeo-Christian crap you've posted everywhere and replacing it with Koranic teachings and Sharia law. Are you still ok with majority religion being slapped all over the government?

What if it wasn't Islam? In fact, what if it wasn't an Abrahamic religion at all? What if the sky opened up tomorrow, and the goddess Diana appeared from above? What if voices in the yearly California brush fires told firefighters that they'd better start worshiping the Hindu gods or they would end the world?

The truth is that you can't count on your religion always being the majority. And if you disapprove of someone else's religion being splattered all over the government, they why is it ok when it's yours?

Or maybe you're just pining away for an Evangelical theocracy. In which case, not only does religion get involved in the government, but now the government is getting involved in your religion. Do you really want that? You don't trust them to provide you with free health care, but you want them messing around in your religion? How does that make any sense?

there are no words...

There are no words, I say, to describe the awesomeness of this essay.

Warning: Gravity is "Only a Theory" by Ellery Schempp

Seriously. There are just no words. I think I am in love with this guy. And as a bonus, Wikipedia says he lives in Boston. Too bad he's like 30 years older than me. LOL. The guy had a PhD before I was even born.

Creationists are funny

A couple of hours ago, some guy responded to a several-months-old blog post where I was following the comments. The original post wanted an explanation for the weirdness of human teeth that went with the creationist standpoint. This guy, like SO many creationists, made a typical in-the-camp-of-the-enemy comment. He wanted to know where the universe came from if there is no god.

Well, there is no god. Why does that make me a cosmologist? I have a basic understanding of Big Bang Theory. But I don't have a degree in theoretic astrophysics, nor am I omniscient. But my reply to him was "where did god come from?" It's like they think atheists have never heard that one before. Funny.

attributing tragedy

I've noticed that whenever someone "miraculously" survives a tragedy, somebody is usually there saying a god saved that person. For example, if a plane crashes, and there's one survivor, someone says their god must have been looking out for that person (but apparently he wasn't bothered much about the rest of them). So I was just wondering. If a plane crashes and everyone but one person survives, does that mean their god hated that person? Does it mean he didn't figure into the god's plans? And would anyone say that on the news? Like, you would hear this headline:

Car Flips Over and Bursts into Flames: One Person Walks Away Unscathed; Says God Has a Plan for Her

But not this one:

Car Flips Over and Bursts into Flames: Four Uninjured, One Dead; Relatives Say God Didn't Have a Plan for Her

Why is that? Could it possibly be that religion just tells us what we want to hear?

redistribution

The other day I was talking about how the religious right people are always complaining about "redistribution of wealth." Well, apparently that only applies if it's being redistributed away from them. According to this chart from the Tax Foundation, they need to STFU. Apparently most of the red states get back more federal aid money than they pay in taxes in the first place. Meanwhile, the blue states are getting less than we pay. Hmmm. How is that not redistribution??

Here in Massachusetts, we're getting back $0.82 on the dollar. Whereas, say, Mississippi, is getting back $2.02 for every dollar they send in tax money. Why do they even get to vote? They're not ever paying taxes. They get double their money back! California only gets $0.76 back per dollar. No wonder they're broke. They're supporting half of the red states by themselves.

Recently, Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), who is running for governor of Tennessee, was whining that if we don't vote the Republicans into federal offices and overturn health care, then states might have to "consider separation from the government." Excuse me? You want to talk treason and secession? Go ahead. Buh-bye. And kiss your $1.27 return on $1 taxes paid goodbye. If enough of you leech states leave, maybe we can bail California out of the republican mess it's in.

I guess this is good...

...even though I never heard of him before. Is there a sci-fi version of this thing?

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Can't make this shit up

So over on Facebook, The Raw Story put up a post about ol' Glenn Beck's latest faux pas. (HAHA FAUX NEWS, FAUX PAS!!) I wrote about what he said the other day. But anyway, their take on the story was that Beck was siding with the Nazis, claiming that the Jews killed Jesus, rather than the Romans. Which, you know, now that they mention it...

But anyway, the Christians were having an argument about "Paunches Pilot." Hello? Pontius Pilate, kids. And yeah, I'm pretty sure he was a Roman. And anyway, aren't they supposed to be happy that Jesus was tortured to death? Isn't that the whole point of the death cult? Human sacrifice, martyrdom, cannibal wafers and blood wine? Because of how he wanted to plagiarize Odin with the sacrifice myself to myself theme, right?

I will never understand this religion.

Whoa!

I was just reading some of my old posts from back when I was going to do reviews (movies, tv, books, whatever). I notice that I said I liked anything with vampires. Apparently, I did not anticipate sparkly vampires. They are an abomination. Whiny emo sparkle boys... bleh. Those aren't sparkles, he's starting to catch fire. I hope.

Finished The Family

I finished reading Jeff Sharlet's The Family the other night. It was kind of dry, and fairly depressing. Not that I didn't like it. I did like it. I'm glad I read it. Now I get why the conservatives back the wars they do, but didn't want to get into WWII - no chance for proselytizing. They're right ready to leap into Vietnam or Iraq, because they have a chance to get converts. But who were they going to convert in Europe? Iraq has the extra added bonus of having oil, so the rich guys with oil stock love that.

Now I get how the Prayer Breakfast people managed to get their god stuck on the money, and in the Pledge. No previous president would go there, but Eisenhower caved.

So yeah, it cleared up a lot of things for me. I think people should read this book. Even Christians who agree with everything Sharlet says these people have done should read it. If they think the Family is doing the right thing, it might make them feel good.

Glenn Beckisms: Christians take note

I know an awful lot of fundamentalist Christians get angry every time someone mentions separation of church and state. But you know what? They really shouldn't.

Glenn Beck's Latest Heresy

This is what happens to religion when it gets political. Beck is spouting the old GOP line about how we should all just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and forget about helping the poor. Let's pretend for a moment that Jesus was real. What the heck would he say about that? And what would he say about the fact that a huge number of "Christians" are buying into it? Because Beck is directly contradicting him.

Ask the Dalai Lama what he would think about not helping the poor (he's actually a real guy, so he could answer).

So what I'd like to know is this. Glenn Beck says that he does not want "the government to redistribute money from wealthy whites to victimized minorities."
Jesus says: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Matthew 19:21 (Also, "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."" Luke 18:22.) Matthew, Mark and Luke all have verses about "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (That was Mark 10:25.) Beck is contradicting Jesus. So who are these people following? Beck or Jesus? I'll give you three guesses, and the hint that it's not Jesus.

When religion gets political, the religion suffers just as much as the state from the combination. Beck and his super-conservative GOP buddies are rewriting the religion, and since they're saying what the sheep want to hear, those sheep are letting them.

Mel Gibson sucks

Yep. I said it. Mel Gibson sucks. What an ass. This guy is a typical I-Hate-Everyone-Who-Isn't-A-White-Christian-Man pig. Although I suppose in his case one needs to specify Catholic, rather than generic Christian. I'm mostly referring to his recent hate-rant at his baby's mother. But every time he gets in the news it's because he was an asshole to somebody. Granted, daddy was a holocaust denier, so he got a bad start, but he's a big boy now, and he's got no excuse. Except for his religion. Who would Jesus hate?

Updated my books list

So I updated my books list. I noticed that I hadn't updated it in... I don't know, years? LOL. I don't know if this is everything I've read since Different Seasons. I just went down my bookshelf of things I've bought and read in the last year or so. Obviously I haven't been doing a lot of fiction lately.

I'll give a brief overview of everything I added, though. The version of Origin I read was an illustrated anniversary edition to celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of its original publication. It's based on the original edition. I found it fascinating, though a little dry at times. There were also excepts from his Beagle voyage interspersed through it. I won't go into a long description, but I did enjoy it. And it is clearer than ever to me that many anti-Darwin people have no idea what his book actually said.

Loved Hawking's books. He must be a fantastic teacher. Everything he said made perfect sense, and even though I've never taken a physics class there was very little I didn't follow. Recommended for anyone who is interested in such things, and doesn't get lost watching Star Trek.

As for the Horsemen, Dawkins is brilliant. I've already admitted a nerd crush on Harris. I find Hitchens amusing, and I like most of what he says. I think he's lost it a little on the pro-war thing, but I guess nobody's perfect. At least he moved here and is trying to help, rather than complaining about the US from afar, like a lot of people who could be helping do. Dennett is too dry for me. I can only take so much abstract philosophy. But he's from the Hub, so he gets points for that.

Beak of the Finch is another book I wish the anti-evolution crowd would read. I mean, they're not going to read Dawkins, but they could read that guy. I also wish they would knock it off with the pretending that "macro" and "micro" evolution are totally different things. That's like saying micro erosion is different than macro erosion. Yeah, it takes longer. *dope slap upside the head*

Sagan was really interesting, and I started re-reading it a couple weeks ago. But then The Family came in the mail, so I've been reading that. So far it's made me want to smack every conservative from the last hundred or so years. And every time he starts talking about the current "Family" members and how they live their lives, I swear it's like I'm watching a cartoon about the 50s. Real people act like that? You have got to be kidding. One guy actually said "golly." Which, you know, that may just be their problem. These people mentally live in Pleasantville. They got to take over the country in the 50s. But it's always been the same thing. In the early 20th century, when unions were fighting for working conditions that didn't involve dropping dead, these guys were who they were fighting. Greedy people who climb to the top by crushing others into the dirt. They may not have lived like Scrooge, but they had his generous spirit of "die and decrease the surplus population." Anyway, I'm not done with that one yet.

The Buffys were ok. Glad to have new Buffys that I didn't have to hunt down at a comic book store (too much effort). But they're whacked out and all over the place. Stuff that wouldn't fly on television is a double edged sword.

The Girls Who Went Away was about teenage biological mothers before Roe v. Wade. It made me cry. And being that I am an adopted person born before Roe v. Wade, it obviously made me wonder. Because from what I was told my bio mother was like 15. So yeah.

As for The Gathering Storm, all I can say is that I love Brandon Sanderson a lot. I never thought I was going to get to read the end of Wheel of Time. And I'm so grateful to RJ and his family for telling him how it ends. He's doing a great job, and I'm really looking forward to the last two books. I mean, holy crap, he's tying up loose ends! Things are moving along! Not that I want it to end, but I do want to know *how* it ends.

Is that everything? ... *looks back at list* Oh, wait. Tolkien. I don't really need to review him. I just realized earlier this year that I hadn't read The Hobbit or LotR for years. So I read those. I do need to get around to the Silmarillion again. I meant to read it when I read the others, but I've read that more recently, so I skipped it. But it really brings the whole of Middle Earth together and sheds light on its past. Anyway, Tolkien was a literary genius, and obviously I adore his work, or I would have stopped reading it when I was 12. So, there you go.

Oh, and...

Yeah, I changed the blog template. I liked the dark thing, but they got new templates on Blogger so I'm trying one out. I kind of like this better, so far. It's less plain, but in keeping with the not-hurting-my-eyes. And since I've been having a lot of eyestrain lately, that is a very good thing.

My Blue Heaven

You know, I was thinking today about how godlings invented heaven as this "perfect" happy Disney in the sky thing where they live forever just the way they want everything to be. They're afraid to die, so they tell themselves they get to live forever in utopia after they do. And I was thinking, I don't want to die, either. But you know, I have yet to hear a version of the afterlife that really lives up to my expectations. So I'm going to invent my own. Yep. Here we go.

We're going to have climate like California. In fact, maybe we'll just copy/paste California right onto the template. They've got every climate. I'm trying to decide whether I want to live at the beach or in wine country. But then given that I am in charge of my Heaven, I think I'll build a house in both places. I'm editing out the earthquakes, though. They would only lead to needing cleanup crews. We're already dead, so no one would die in them. If you want to live up in the mountains, be my guest, but don't expect me to come up and check on you. I've had enough snow in this lifetime. Don't need to be having it in MY afterlife.

Let's see. What else? Oh, I'm throwing in some TARDIS physics (just like Noah did) so everybody fits in California. I mean, you can't very well make it bigger, because that would defeat the purpose of having all the climates close together. Might as well just have earth back at that rate.

Republicans aren't invited. Sorry, but until you repent of your evil ways, there is just no room for you in my heaven. You will have to go to the other place. But rejoice! Unlike some overlords of the afterlife I could mention, I'm not interested in seeing anyone tortured. I just want to keep them away from the general population. Hmm... perhaps internment camps, like where they sent Japanese people in WWII. Conservatives invented that shyte, so they must like it, right? And let's face it. If we brought all the Beck/Rush type wackos with us, they would make the afterlife suck. The only people who can come are the ones who weren't supposed to be going to the 1950s version of heaven anyway. So the cool kids.

Everything you could ever want or need magically appears on request. If you would prefer to make your own things, you may instead opt for materials and ingredients to appear. If, for example, you want to chop your own wood to heat your mountain house, you would request the supplies, and head out to the conveniently located woods. But please be aware that when you chop down a tree, it will be a copy that falls to the ground for your use. The original tree remains standing in case you need it again later.

Transportation. You may drive any vehicle you like. They run on magic non-polluting fuel. And best of all, the TARDIS physics prevent traffic jams.

Afterlife entertainment is handled by appointed department heads and their staff. The music department is headed by Messrs. Lennon, Harrison and Mozart. Prof. Tolkien is, of course, head of the literary department, and as I am unfamiliar with his political leanings there will have to be an exception made for his admittance if they were too right-ish. He's an English teacher. We can just send him off on a digression if need be. And speaking of making exceptions, I think I shall at least give a permanent resident card to Dr. King, allowing him to come and go as he pleases. Because his awesome factor outweighs the Reverend thing.

Einstein will of course be in charge of the sciences department, and have an exceptionally large staff. This is because all the scientists are going to my afterlife. The do-not-question-the-church variety of afterlife certainly won't have them. In a cooperative endeavor with the entertainment department, the satellite TV is already hooked up.

Ok, so I'm getting bogged down in details, so I'll have to parcel the rest of the planning out as we go. I've got a lot of historical leaders on my admittance list. Maybe I'll talk to Jefferson about this. He's a good writer, too. And as a bonus, any of the US founding fathers who show up will probably know how to set up a decent pub.

end long ramble... LOL.

Nemitz: Call it class struggle: How politics went too far | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Nemitz: Call it class struggle: How politics went too far | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Why are these bag people so completely vile? Seriously? FFS, vandalizing an 8th grade classroom?

hate prayer

Do these people actually think they're funny or something?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DEAR-LORD-THIS-YEAR-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-ACTOR-PATRICK-SWAYZIE-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-ACTRESS-FARAH-FAWCETT-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-SINGER-MICHAEL-JACKSON-I-JUST-WANTED-TO-LET-YOU-KNOW-MY-FAVORITE-PRESIDENT-IS-BARACK-OBAMA-AMEN/111712585523370?ref=ts

WTF?? Who would Jesus pray to death?

I have to admit, I'm at a loss for words. I would never have wished for Dubya's death. (Although I did want someone to shove Cheney's wheelchair down the stairs at President Obama's inauguration.) And if McCain had won the election, I sure as hell would have been hoping he lived through his whole term. But I wouldn't expect my wishing to make it so. These people, OTOH, actually think their wishing star is really real. And freaks like Beck and Limpbutt keep on stirring the anthill.

Nerd Crush Alert

So I can't be the only woman who drools over smart guys. To hell with the stereotypical brain-dead gym rat. What would you talk to him about?

Well, just now my nerd-crush-o-meter went off the charts when I read Adam Savage's speech to the Harvard Humanists. Damn. Apologies to Jamie, though, the walrus mustache doesn't do it for me. I'd have to meet him in person to decide if he goes on the list. (Not coincidentally, last year's recipient of this same award was Joss Whedon - also on my nerd crush list.) Another big nerd crush, Sam Harris, doesn't even need the award. Everybody just knows. Which pretty much leaves us with Dr. Neil Tyson as my final nerd crush.

Science!

Back to Adam for a second, though. Way back in the recesses of time, in 1988(ish), I never thought I would end up with a nerd crush on the drowning kid from Billy Joel's Only Human video. I wonder what ever happened to angst guy who Billy was actually singing to. I bet he didn't turn out awesome like Adam did.

Once per Decade

Once per decade I go through an major upheaval in my life. Like it or not. In New Age terms, it's like I draw the Tower card every ten years or so. (Must not digress into how much I love Tarot cards as an intuitive tool.)

Anyway, this is my life:

I. Starting off early on the decade thing
1969 - born
1970 - adopted

II. This one is more of a cascade than a waterfall, but still
1977 - moved from southern California to central Massachusetts
1978 - Legendary Blizzard of '78 to which all other Blizzards are compared forever, welcome to Massachusetts
1980 - Grandparents died. Note that I'd really only know them for about two years.

III. Accelerated Pace
1987 - 88 - transition into and back out of college
1989 - pregnant - had Lizzie
1990 - married, moved an hour away from my parents

IV. Downhill Slide
2000 - husband goes to jail. Gets 9-12. This is a looong story, filled with "Holy crap, what?" And I am just not up for telling it right now.
2001 - Single parenting two kids while on SSI disability. Father-in-law and his ex-wife start making demands & try to have Social services take my kids. Buh-bye.

V. Here and Now
2008 - house fire, 5 months of motel life, falling behind on all bills
2009 - can't even get the rest of the repair work done, TYVM, Liberty Mutual.
2010 - Sean decides it's time to file for divorce without bothering to discuss it with me. Mortgage Company decides it's bored with trying to work out a modification, & auctions off my house.

That was last Thursday. So that's where I am.

Note that I didn't add in all the other crap that I've been through. Just the massive decade crap. Between III & IV Justin was born, and had to have an operation for an inguinal hernia. We bought a house, and found out it had lead paint when both kids tested positive for lead poisoning. We had to de-lead the house, which involved staying in a motel over Thanksgiving. This was about a month after Sean got out of the hospital for pneumonia. He almost died from that. The CDC guys went to visit him and everything.

Between IV and V, my "best" friend decided to dump me because my life is "too complicated" for her to deal with. Nice. Then my mom died and my dad went crazy. He moved to Cambodia where my sister lives and married some way younger woman who wanted to move to America. When he finally recovered from that and got an annulment, he moved back to his apartment in Marlboro, where I grew up. But then he met someone else (nice lady), who decided that they needed to move to Florida.

Anyway, my point, and I do actually have one, is this. What do other secular people do when they have huge shit like this going down all the time? I mean, I have social issues already, so being a part of a church community wouldn't have worked out for me. But I also don't have any friends or relatives or their extended families who live anywhere near me. So I'm pretty much support-network-free. I don't have the slightest idea where to go from here, other than to take more Ativan and cry at my therapist.

Maybe I should get a Phoenix tattoo. Yes, that was random. No, it's not likely b/c I have a million allergies and also needle fear.

Republican Presidents

You know, I was just thinking. Every Republican president there has been in my whole life has been a shithead. When I was born, Nixon was president. 'Nuff said there. Ford was a buffoon, but I don't think he made anything worse than it was when he got there. I could be wrong. I was little then.

Democratic interlude: President Carter was (and presumably still is) a Very Nice Man. He probably should have been President of the United Federation of Planets, rather than of the US between Republicans.

Reagan. Debt. Arms Race. Iran Contras. And he STILL didn't suck half as much as the Bushes. And Bush 41 didn't suck half as much as Bush 43.

Come to think of it, the only good president during my whole life was President Clinton. President Obama is doing pretty well so far, so maybe we've got a second one.

Still Getting Republispam Ads

Ok, Facebook? Get the hint! I'm really, really tired of clicking "irrelevant," "uninteresting," etc. on the Republispam ads. Over, and over, and over. At this point, I'm not sure that a Democrat eating babies on live TV would make me vote red. I would be amused at them wasting their money on advertising to me, except their whole spiel is how they should have all the money.

I really don't see why they are so attached to keeping poverty around. Republicapitalism, (i.e. take as much as you can for yourself, and to hell with anyone else) is a far greater evil than any kind of communism. Even so, nobody is advocating "everybody gets the same amount of money no matter what." Which doesn't make any sense, anyway. It's more like "everybody gets enough to survive, and people who earn more than that get more than that." What is the problem with that?

In fact, if you go to endpovertyinamerica.org, you may notice the second blog post. Here is a quote from it: "It doesn’t matter how people got poor or why they are poor, the top priority of Jesus Christ was to help the poor." So... what is with the conservatives, again? They blame everything they do on the Bible. Their god hates this, or that, or the other thing, and who are they to not go right along hating? Well, raise your hand if you think Jesus would have voted against health care for everyone. Seriously. Think about that for a second. Can anybody picture Jesus sitting there in the House yelling "baby killer!" at Bart Stupak? Did Jesus ever have one single word to say about abortion? Ever? Why no, he never even brought it up.

Would Jesus have joined the tea baggers? Would he spit on black Congressmen? Would he scream "ni**er" and "fa**ot" at Congressmen with whom he disagreed? Would he march around carrying signs with guns on them, or pictures of coffins? Would he mock a man with Parkinson's, telling him to look elsewhere for a handout, while throwing dollar bills at him? The baggers did. And maybe, like one guy who commented on that site, Jesus would complain that we would all end up being treated by "Foreign docs whose first language is NOT English and not well trained PA’s" (Physician's Assistants). Oh, wait. Jesus's first language wasn't English, either. Oops. Folks, if Jesus was a real guy (and readily I admit that I have no idea whether or not the character is based on someone who actually existed), he would have wept with shame.

no zombies today

So I got through Easter Sunday without having my brain eaten by anyone who came back from the dead. I figure that's pretty good. It's funny how it seems to be "the thing" to compare Jesus to a zombie, lately. The first time I ever heard the comparison, I was driving through downtown Leominster with my then 8-year-old son. We passed a church with a god commercial that said "Jesus is dead Jesus has risen" (and yes, I'm pretty sure it was punctuation-free). My son read the billboard, looked at me and asked "is he a zombie?" I don't remember what I said. But I'm relatively sure I laughed.

But yeah, coming back from the dead is creepy. So whose bright idea was it to stick coming-back-from-the-dead day on the same day as the spring fertility ritual? A church that doesn't want you to have any unapproved sex, that's who. If you go out into the fields to get fertile, it could turn into a horror movie, folks. Better not chance it.

And speaking of coming back from the dead, they're still waiting for him to do it again. Frankly, if it's all the same, and they come back intact (i.e. not as zombies), I'd rather have Martin Luther King, and/or one or more of the Kennedys. Rest in peace, Dr. King, on this, the anniversary of your death. It still gets me every time I think of someone wanting to shoot a man like that. Today I watched Bobby Kennedy's unscripted speech from the night Dr. King died, talking about how a white man killed his brother, and how we needed to move forward together as a nation.

Dr. King, Bobby and John Kennedy were all murdered before I was born. Scared, angry people reacted to change and progress with a gun. And what have we learned since then? Apparently nothing, if you look at the tea baggers. Because there they go, marching around, spitting, name-calling, and holding up signs with coffins and guns on them. I am just at a loss to understand the conservative mind. Which, I guess, is a good thing.

holy software

What do you do when you run across a product, in my current case, software, that does that thing where they stick scriptures and fishes all over their site to tell you that they're Jesus-y? I find it really off-putting. If it were a plumber, I would skip that guy. The best thing he can say about himself in his business ad is that he might go to church? Fail plumber.

But I just ran across some free organizer software that is currently running an Easter sale (complete with scriptures, clouds and dove) it you want to upgrade to the not-free version. I downloaded, but haven't installed yet. But I'm wondering what I'm going to do if I decide I want the upgrade. Do I want to give them money to pass along the godness?

Probably won't be a problem, since I'm big into free software. The only software I can think of where I prefer paid to free is my graphics software. Poser over DAZ|Studio, and Photoshop over anything that is not Photoshop (including Photoshop Elements, which should really be called Fauxtoshop). Granted, those are the software packages I learned on, and I'm most familiar with. I'm not a fan of learning curve. Although I did switch from Bryce to Vue for landscapes, because there's just no comparison. (No offense to DAZ, on the Studio and Bryce fronts. Or on Carrara, which I also do not use/understand.)

Anyway, I wonder if it even occurs to people that sticking their god all over their site comes off as unprofessional and off-putting. What if I were a Wiccan selling totally-unrelated-to-Wicca software? Should I hold a Beltane sale, and decorate the site with pentacles and triple moons?

Return of the Muse

(Note that if any of this doesn't make sense to you, it's in Poser/DAZ-speak. Visit DAZ 3D to see what I do.)

Didn't see this coming. Smith Micro is having an upgrade sale for $30 off Poser 8, so I decided to go over to Content Paradise and get it. Which, well, I haven't been actually doing anything arty lately, so it wasn't exactly a justified purchase. Since the last time I actually released a product, I have also bought Vue 7 Pro Studio (upgrade), Blacksmith 3D Paint, Photoshop CS4 (got it for 2/3 off when I bought a tablet!!), and DAZ Studio 3 Advanced 64-bit. Oh, and Windows 7 for both my and Justin's desktop machines, which I haven't even installed. Oops. There are probably a couple more, too. But I can't stand to think of them just now. Not to mention the bajillion free software packages I've downloaded and not learned yet. (And did I mention that after I bought Poser 8, I bought a bunch of lights for it from RDNA?)

So anyway, I have decided that I need to stop buying or start using. So I hauled out the partial Victoria 4 texture I've been working on, and loaded her and it into Blacksmith (this is a program that lets me paint directly on 3d models). Watched some tutorials on YouTube, and got going. Once I even out the lighting on some of the skin resource photos I'm using, I should be good to go there. And if I'm feeling extra ambitious, I'll do a custom morph for her. But at that point, the Photoshop vampire-energy was still kicking in every time I opened it.

Today, I went over to DAZ, because they are having the end of their March Madness sale, and I hadn't spend my $5 monthly voucher yet. I got a couple of sale items. One was a V4 character texture by my friend Amy, the other was a V4 dress by my other friend Mada. Total cost after $5 voucher: $.70. W00t! I got the dress because I wanted to texture it. I think some nice blood red and black textures would look nice on it. They look nice on everything, really. lol. Then I realized that I lost a ton of fabric resources when I had that hard drive crash. The ones I bought, I can re-download. But the ones I got free when I was a product tester are gone. I tested at 3 different stores over the years, so there were quite a few. Plus a bunch of them that I made myself are also gone. Hard drive disaster + backup CD/DVD fail = loss of graphics.

So I decided to go ahead and make some new fabric textures. And maybe buy some. Except I don't really want to spend any money up front on this. Once I get some more income coming in, then I can think about that. So I start working on some, using some techniques I already know, and going through a few tutorials to learn new stuff. And then I'm thinking I should have some ornaments and/or trims to put on them. Going to need tutorials there. Anyway, I think my long-comatose muse has woken up and taken an interest, because I haven't fallen asleep at the mouse/keyboard/tablet yet.

Anyway, while I've been endeavoring to get my head around what I want to make, I was noticing how there are a ton of crosses in Goth textures. And it kind of annoys me. What is the point of them? It it just because they are on Goth churches? Are people trying to fight vampires with pewter earrings and velvet chokers? Maybe it just looks cool to some people. I don't see it, but I don't get a lot of Abrahamic-religion-related things. And I do think that pagan symbols look cool on clothes and jewelry. Then again, pagans don't generally use torture/execution devices as holy symbols.

Anyway, I need to go get some sleep now, before I decide to start working on one of my projects again. It's kind of nice that I want to work on projects again, though.

edit: I just realized that I read in the Poser 8 product description that it includes Wardrobe Wizard...? That would be handy. I have a ton of clothes for other models that Victoria 4 and Michael 4 would like to have fitted to them. I will have to investigate this further.

Think Progress » Vandals hit at least five Dem offices nationwide, threaten to ‘assassinate’ children of pro-reform lawmakers.

Think Progress » Vandals hit at least five Dem offices nationwide, threaten to ‘assassinate’ children of pro-reform lawmakers.

I am running out of ways to ask what the hell is wrong with these people. These Holy Bag People who screamed about how "pro-life" they are, are threatening to kill children? Why, because they've already been born? I've had enough republicrap to last me forever. All the Fox morons need to be put on the plane to Costa Rica with Rush. Sorry, Costa Rica. You can ship them somewhere else, once they get there. Or refuse them at the airport, as long as you don't send them back here. Or maybe shoot down their plane! That's what they would do if the situation were reversed! And their god would tell them it was ok, because he hates the same people they do!

Warned About Abuse, Vatican Failed to Defrock Priest - NYTimes.com

Warned About Abuse, Vatican Failed to Defrock Priest - NYTimes.com

Oh, look. Pope Evil was involved. I'm just not even surprised any more. I couldn't finish the article.

Thanks to Marlee Matlin for the link.

Thanks, Senator Brown

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Senator Scott Brown for giving me the chance so early in his one term to say, "I told you so." So to all those stupid people who said they weren't voting "for" him, but "against" Martha Coakley, all those bozos who insisted that he was some kind of independent thinker, and anybody who was fool enough to think he wasn't Mitt Romney: The Next Generation, I told you so. First chance he gets to show that he's got a brain of his own, and he's right on board with trying to overturn health care reform.

All these potato heads are somehow surprised about this. ZOMG, he's acting like a Republican! Yeah, there was a warning label next to his name on the ballot to let you know he might do that. Looked a lot like (R). But apparently here in Massachusetts we have that saying like they do in Texas and Tennessee, about can't get fooled again. (Yes, that was a Bushism reference.) Because all of a sudden, I'm seeing 50 posts on the Globe site saying "Scott Brown: One and Done." Buh-bye, Brownie. I'm looking forward to 2012.

Severed gas line found at home of Perriello brother | Charlottesville Daily Progress

Severed gas line found at home of Perriello brother | Charlottesville Daily Progress

So there they go with the batshit crazy again. Notice how once again, we're dealing with the RRR (Religious Republican Right)? The rules don't apply to them, because they have a god on their side. Clearly, they need to bash the rest of us into agreeing with them by any means necessary.

Against the Will of the American People?

Ok, so I've been trying to figure out why I get all these sidebar ads on Facebook for conservative/Republican things. My profile identifies me as a godless liberal. I thought maybe that wasn't specific enough. So a couple weeks ago I changed my political views to Democrat. Technically, I'm registered as unenrolled. I was a lot more of an idealist when I originally registered to vote, so I didn't want to join any political party. Fast forward past the Bush wars, the Republican theocracy, the Great Republican Recession, and the Party of No. Well, the odds of me ever voting for a Republican as long as I live, are... small. So even though I'm not actually a registered Democrat, I figured I was close enough for Facebook purposes.

Now, I know at least some of those ads check my profile to see if they are correctly targeted for me. I said I like Star Trek, and I get ads for sci-fi MMORPGs asking "Like Star Trek?" I said I like Stargate-SG1, and I get ads for some Corin Nemec fanclub. These ads prominently mention that he was on there (although they do not specify that he was only there for one season). I said I like Lord of the Rings, and I get a billion different kinds of offers totally unrelated to LotR, that feature pictures of various cast members or mention Tolkien. I said I like Quantum Leap, and I got about 12 million ads for Scott Bakula's new show. Liking Buffy got me ads for Tom Lenk's Broadway show (which I already knew about, since I follow him on Twitter - closing night was tonight, btw). I also get ads that ask me if I'm 40, or if I graduated in 1987.

So for the love of all that is chocolate, could they please stop putting up ads expecting me to support Glenn Beck and Rush Limburger? Just a few minutes ago, I got one about supporting the Republicans' effort to repeal health care reform. Even though I've clicked "like" on every single pro-reform ad that has popped up (I think there were two of those. Maybe three.) Anyway, the one I just got said that Democrats passed HCR "against the will of the American people." Excuse me? The American people who voted for the Democrats who passed it? Or maybe the American people who have been cheering about HCR on Twitter ever since it passed. How about the millions of Americans who are not going to die for lack of health care now? Guess what? You are not the majority, Repuggers. America wants this. And you know what? Next up is single payer universal care. Choke on it. Because like my new buddy Joe Biden said, "it's a big fucking deal!" I <3 him for saying that. He just turned into a guy I want to live next door to. For somebody who looks like a typical Washington White Guy, he's pretty damned normal.

Todays Thoughts

So #1: YAY HEALTHCARE!!!!

And #2: What Keith Olbermann said.

Keith has hit the nail on the head here. Republicans are so far gone, that they're out of control. This is exactly what I've been thinking lately. Lately, while I've been moving in atheist blog circles, I've been running into the GOP party extremist thing. And suddenly it's a lot more like mainstream than extreme to be a hateful, bigoted, abusive bully.

For example, I've been following Angie the anti-theist on Twitter since she live Tweeted and video blogged while going through the process of an abortion using RU-486. The comments she gets from these right-wing "pro-life" nutjobs are horrifying. I mean, is it "pro-life" to tell her that you hope she has to watch her young son torn limb from limb in front of her? Because someone said that to her.

And this is the problem with today's Republican party. You don't want to die giving birth (Angie's doctor said she most likely would have)? They answer with violence. You have Parkinson's, and want to see health care reform passed so you can pay your medical bills? They answer with insults and mocking, while throwing dollar bills at you. Dare to be a Democratic politician? Hoo boy. Take your pick. You're either a ni**er, or a fa**ot. Maybe they spit on you. Maybe they throw a brick through your office window. Maybe they try scare tactics like wanted fliers placed on your chair. Maybe they shout "baby killer!" and disrupt Congress. Or maybe they just decide that "there will be no cooperation for the rest of the year." (SO glad I voted for President Obama.)

Well guys, it's all backfiring now, isn't it? You suck. Let's do a post-Reagan score check. I'll let Reagan slide. We lived in terror of nuclear war, and in the middle of a raging cold war, but we didn't blow up. I'd call him close enough to even for my current purposes. But let's see. George H. W. Bush. (i.e. Bush 41). Promised us peace and prosperity. Gave us war and recession. Buh-bye. Parting gifts to us: highest national deficit in US history (Reagan's military e$calation did not help here.) Bill Clinton: pays off debt and we are in the black. Does not start any wars. Republicans waste our time yapping about his personal life. Is this the US government or the National Enquirer? Please. George W. Bush (i.e. Bush 43). Hey, we're in the black? Not for long, boy. You have misunderestimated my spending capacity. Not to be outdone by Daddy, he gives us a Bigger War, and a Huge Recession! There, top that, Jeb! During the whole Bush administration, anyone who dared to criticize President Bush ("Our" President, for whom I did not vote) was a communist, a traitor, should be shot, blah, blah, hate.

Now flash forward to 2010. Criticizing President Obama (who *is* my president, and for whom I *did* vote) is suddenly their patriotic duty. If he shows understanding to other countries, he's being soft. If he gets angry at them, he's making too big a deal out of it, and should let it slide." And by the way, they also hate gays, abortions, sex education, atheists, Muslims, poor people, health care, Mexicans, France, Canada, and brown people who don't play major league sports. And some of them, too. The hell? What don't they hate? Other white heterosexual Christians of their same denomination.

Now I'm not saying *everybody* who votes Republican falls under this description. But I am saying that if the party keeps on this same road, everybody who doesn't agree with all that garbage is going to leave the party. My parents left years ago. They were die hard Reaganites back when he was Governor of California. They voted for him every time his name was on anything. My mom quit the party when Bush 41 ran for president, and she never looked back. I hope many Republicans follow her example and just walk away. Sometimes it's best to start over without the baggage. Take your moderately sane contributors and start or join a different party. Because the crazies own the elephant now.

In Which I Re-start the Blog

Yeah, so I've totally blown off writing this blog. Topic blog + ADD = Bored Now. So from now on, I'm just going to have random thoughts from a godless, liberal, nerdtastic, 3d texturing mom. Don't worry. Most people don't know what I mean when I say that last bit. I do 3d texturing and some modeling for Smith Micro's Poser and DAZ3D's DAZ Studio program. DAZ Studio is free, so if you are exceptionally curious about what it does, go download it.

Anyway, about the blog. I may be changing some design/layout elements as I go along. Not sure about the current theme. But I will try to post more often (shouldn't be harder to post more than nothing). The sidebar thing with the recent books I've read is obviously way out of date. Arthur C. was still alive when I was reading those, IIRC. So I'll see if I can get around to updating that, too. Meanwhile, I'll give some thoughts on what I've been reading and watching lately.

Recent Books: I'm re-reading Lord of the Rings. Haven't read it in years, so I figured it was time. Now I remember why I had trouble keeping track of all the characters when I was 12. I'd forgotten how many weren't in the movies. But I still approve of almost all of the changes Jackson made. Faramir, not so much.

Recent Movies: The other day I watched K-Pax. It was pretty amusing. Kevin Spacey as Prot from K-Pax made me laugh. I don't think it was supposed to be a comedy, though. The plotline was odd. I still don't know if he was really from space or not. But anyway, I'd probably give it about a 6 on a scale of 1-10. Tried to watch Population 436. Got halfway through it and decided that it wasn't likely to stop sucking. I'd 1 star, and only because I did get through half of it before shutting it off. I think it was supposed to be an overlong Outer Limits episode or something. It was about a town whose population is always 436. So when somebody is born, somebody else dies. It was a curse or something. Hey guys in 436land? Leave town. The end.

Recent TV: I don't have a TV. Well, I do, but it's the old kind that doesn't get the new signal. And I live too far away from both Boston and Springfield to get any reception without paying for cable. No thank you. But over the last couple of months I've marathoned Lost, Doctor Who (9th & 10th Doctors), Torchwood, and Heroes on Netflix, and I was watching Dollhouse on Hulu. Thumbs up on all of them. Obviously I liked them, or I would have cut short the marathoning. Which I did with Legend of the Seeker. Yawn. There's derivative fantasy, and then there's DERIVATIVE fantasy. This was the second kind. Zero originality. And then I remembered that I tried to read Wizard's First Rule (the Terry Goodkind book on which LotS is based), and that was boring, too. Didn't finish it, either.

Anyway, to sum up the shows that I did like:
Lost: Makes no sense whatsoever, and yet I can't stop watching it. There are so many groups of "others" on that island that they're going to have to build condos to house them all eventually. But I particularly liked the part in one episode where John's father insisted that the island was hell. If I die and wake up in Hawaii, I'll change my mind about there being an afterlife. And I'll send a postcard.

Doctor Who: Liked the 9th Doctor. Loved the 10th Doctor (David Tennant - drool). But I kind of don't want to watch the next guy. Neil Gaiman said that happens with every new Doctor (I read that in one of his tweets). But I don't know. Change and I are not particularly friends. As for the some of the other cast members, Billie what's her face that played Rose is one of the dumbest-looking people I've ever seen. I think Jessica Simpson beats her out, but it's close. It's like you want to knock on her head and ask if anyone is home. But I loved Martha. She was awesome.

Torchwood: Weird, interesting, and entertaining. But they seem to have not really known what to do with it. I hear the guy who made it is a Joss Whedon fan. Which makes sense, given that toward the end of the series... well they did what Joss would do. Rocks fall, everybody dies, the end. We hope you have enjoyed the show. This one could have been so much more than it was. I've heard they're going to make a US version (presumably without the gay characters, so the god-bots don't have to think about gay people existing). I also hear that it will be on Fox. I expect the US version to suck.

Heroes: This thing is all over the place as far as which characters are acting sanely at any given moment. And now I know why, I've been referring to Spock from JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot thing as "Evil Spock." Because that guy has been playing a psycho killer on here for years. But then he's all of a sudden sticking on a pair of glasses and he's this nice, yet confused guy. Also, he's really hot for a guy who's too young for me. lol. But yeah, pretty good show. Mad about some of the characters that have been killed off, though. There are at least 3 that I want back, damn it.

Dollhouse: OMFG! Why does Fox have a hate-on for Joss? Firefly only got one season, and now Dollhouse only gets two. WTF is that about? This was easily my favorite show. They've basically got Total Recall + Fantasy Island going on there, and yet somehow, Fox couldn't manage to pull in ratings for it. Hint: promotion beyond the first episode would have been nice. But yeah, they have all these hot-looking men and women who get their minds wiped, and then rich customers pay for them to be programmed with their rich-person fantasy. Meanwhile, the mind wipes aren't working right, and the "dolls" are waking up and becoming aware of what's going on. And they canceled this. Un. Real. If someone else had made the same show and put it on a real network, Enver Gjokaj (Victor) would have walked away with an Emmy. Dichen Lachman (Sierra) would probably have gotten one, too. I already bought season 1 on DVD, and now I'm waiting for the season 2 DVD release, so I can watch it again.

So there we go. More ramblings on other things later.